‘They Are Part Of The Fabric Of North Texas’: Local Iranian Community Fears Danger At Home Amid US Tensions

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — After recent tensions between the United States and Iran, those in a local Iranian community say they fear they may be in danger here at home.

Hadi Jawad is the executive director of the Dallas Peace and Justice Center and is of Iranian decent.

“I have lived in Iran. I have family in Iran,” Jawad said.

He’s been glued to the news coming out of the Middle East.

“The last thing we need is another U.S. war in the Middle East,” Jawad said. “It’s a concern to me personally that Iranian-Americans might be targeted and it’s wrong and it’s inappropriate. We are concerned because we have seen this before. It happened with the Japanese-Americans, it happened here after 9/11.”

He’s been reminding everyone that Iranians living in the U.S. aren’t to blame for the current instability.

“They are businessmen, they are teachers, they are nurses, they’re doctors, they’re lawyers… they are part of the fabric of North Texas,” Jawad said.

Meanwhile, the latest confirmation from U.S. officials that Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane has escalated tensions. More than 60 Canadians were on that plane and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke out Thursday.

“Canadians have questions and they deserve answers,” Trudeau said.

Dallas based Iranian relations expert Dr. David Oulaalou said you can expect more aggressive actions from Iran.

“Iran wants to send a message that anything that’s going to be around their airspace is going to be shut down,” Oulaalou said.